As portable radio communication devices, such as mobile phones, become smaller the electronic components contained within the devices, e.g. antennas, will also need to be smaller. The electrical connection of these components is realized by means of connectors, which shall provide good and well defined electrical contact and which should be insensitive to small variations in manufacturing dimensions.
Therefore, elastic type or spring type of connector is becoming increasingly attractive for small components. Such connectors are known to provide reliable electrical connection. Spring features provide a well-defined contact and the flexibility to avoid tolerances build up when manufacturing dimensions are not all perfectly exact. The compliance is also needed to accommodate departures from planarity as is common in high volume manufacturing processes where the contact pads may not be exactly flat.
The conventional method of electrically connecting such an electronic component, being of a miniature size, is to interpose between the electronic component and the printed circuit board, an electrical connector such as a so-called pogo pin connector.
The pogo pin is an elongated pin containing a head that makes contact with one surface and can be compressed by its connection to a spring within a socket of the pin that is soldered to the printed circuit board.
Mobile phones are also subject to cost reduction demands as well as increasing adaptation for large-scale manufacturing. For that reason parts included in a mobile phone are preferably designed to ensure low manufacturing and assembling costs. The above mentioned pogo pins are rather complicated, including a plurality of details, and their sockets may have to be soldered to a component in the communications device. Thus, the use of pogo pins is relatively expensive.
Another problem with prior art connectors using a helical spring or the like is that the electrical parameters, notably inductance and capacitance, vary with the length of the spring. Thus, in some applications in which the spring is compressed, this compression creates unwanted variations in the RF characteristics. Furthermore, the use of a helical spring sets a lower limit on the length of the connector device.
Another drawback with some prior art solutions is that the connector device occupies space that otherwise could be used as an effective radiating area of a radiating element.